ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jake Marisnick’s strengths have always been his defense and his baserunning. Even when he wasn’t contributing offensively in the past, Houston relied on him for his other tools.

But 44 games into this season, Marisnick’s extreme strikeout rate became too much for the Astros to ignore. After their 5-3 victory against the Angels on Tuesday night, they demoted the struggling outfielder to Class AAA Fresno. His stay there is not expected to be long.

“He needs to get some at-bats,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He hasn’t really been right for most of the year.”

The Astros will summon a player from Fresno before Wednesday night’s series finale at Angel Stadium. J.D. Davis is the most likely candidate, as he’s batted .407/.460/.610 in 123 Pacific Coast League at-bats since his demotion from the Astros a month ago. Davis is a third and first baseman, but the Astros could probably play him in...